Wake Me Up When September Ends
by AlexaCardew
Summary: Everyone's back in Lima, Blaine's dating the guy who made high school a living hell for him and on top of that, he and Rachel are coaching the New Directions. Oh, and apparently coach Beiste is trans all of a sudden. Kurt's certain this is all just a bad dream, but then why won't he just wake up?


**AN: **I wrote this when the Glee spoilers came out months ago and then couldn't find it anymore. Wasn't in my usual folders and I couldn't remember the title. After spring cleaning my laptop folders I found this cracky, fix it fic again and because I still haven't watched a full episode of Glee this season and I know I'm not the only one, decided to still post it.

**Wake Me Up When September Ends**

It's quiet in his room, though the lights are bright when Kurt opens his eyes. He blinks a few times until his eyes have adjusted to the early morning light, but when he opens them again, he's starring straight at his vanity. The one he left in Ohio when he moved to New York nearly three years ago.

On his nightstand, his phone buzzes and when he picks it up his inbox is overflowing with texts from Rachel.

_First Glee club meeting this morning. Don't be late. – Rachel._

_Kurt! Don't tell me you're still sleeping! – Rachel_

_Do you want me to come pick you up? – Rachel_

_I'm picking you up. I'll be at your house 7:30. – Rachel_

Kurt checks his alarm clock. 7:05. With a sigh he rolls out of bed and gets ready for the day ahead.

"Blaine? Honey, why didn't you wake me," he calls downstairs, but when he steps into the kitchen it's empty.

7:30 on the dot, Rachel pulls up in front of his dad's house and Kurt pats himself on the shoulder for managing to get ready in 25 minutes, though he's a bit confused about Blaine's whereabouts.

"Hey, Rachel. How drunk did I get last night? Because Blaine nearly always stays with me when we're visiting Ohio, but I couldn't find him this morning and I can't really remember last night."

The last thing he remembers is flying to Ohio yesterday morning for their rehearsal dinner. Because they wanted everyone to be able to attend their wedding, they had decided to have the ceremony in Ohio before flying back home to New York to get legally married. The closer they came to wedding – even though it wasn't legal – the more nervous he got, questioning whether they weren't making a mistake after all. To hide his wedding jitters, he'd taken advantage of the open bar, but he didn't think he drank so much that he blacked out from it.

Surprisingly, Rachel looks at him with something akin to pity in her eyes.

"Kurt, honey, I don't know what you did last night, but I think you're still a little drunk. And getting wasted in the middle of the week won't change that he's with Karofsky now."

Kurt looks at his best friend like she's speaking Chinese.

"Who's with Karofsky? And where did you even see him? Last I heard he moved out east as well."

Rachel pulls into the McKinley parking lot, but when he tries to open the door she quickly locks them.

"Kurt, you're starting to worry me. Please tell me you didn't do anything stupid. I can't coach the New Directions without your help. I thought I could, but I need you."

She sounds desperate, but Kurt's starting to lose his patience, because if this is some elaborate prank then the timing couldn't be worse and he's seriously considering telling Rachel she can't sing at his wedding if she keeps up this charade.

"Very funny, Rachel. Why the hell would the two of us coach our former high school glee club?"

Rachel suddenly glares at him like he's the one messing with her.

"I never thought that you would stoop as low as mocking me from getting fired from my show. I know you're hurting over Blaine, but you broke up with him and I didn't force you to do your work-study program in Ohio. It was your decision to come here and try to win him back, so please stop acting like a jerk."

"My work-what? You do remember that I attend a preforming arts college, right? You used to go there as well, so you know that there is no such thing. And I'm sorry you're not getting a second season, but I've been nothing but supportive since you found out."

He's dreaming, that's what's going on here. There's really no other explanation. Because, didn't Rachel just try to tell him that his fiancé is dating Kurt's former bully? And there's one thing he is certain of; even if he and Blaine broke up again – which they won't because getting cold feet a few days before the wedding is totally normal – Blaine would never do that to him. Because Blaine is the only one who knows the whole truth about what Karofsky put him through. He may have forgiven the jock for most things, but there are incidents he will never forget and never forgive.

Instead of replying, Rachel gets out of the car and slams the door shut behind her. When pinching doesn't wake him up, he scrambles out of the car, and runs after his former roommate, only to collide with Brittany and Santana. While Brittany smiles at him, Santana looks ready to murder him.

"Get out of my way, lady," she snarls and Kurt freezes, because what the fuck? Two months ago she had pretty much blackmailed him into letting her be part of his wedding party.

"You nearly ruined my proposal yesterday, and I'm sick and tired of hearing you whine about how we are all too young to get married."

He pinches his arm again.

"What do you mean you got engaged yesterday? I've seen the pictures from when you proposed to Brittany when Mercedes' tour ended in L.A."

From the corner of his eye, he sees Quinn and Puck walking toward the school even though the couple had told him they would only be able to make it to Lima the day of the wedding. Tina is with them as well even though Kurt knows for sure that she won't make it to his and Blaine's wedding because she's studying abroad in England and her semester doesn't end before the end of June.

Kurt pushes past Santana and Brittany, his stomach in knots. As he runs down a hallway filled with students looking older than him, he pats his pockets for his phone because there's only one person he wants to talk to right now. One person, who'll laugh when he hears about the crazy things Rachel has told him. But it isn't there and Kurt realizes with a lump in his throat that he probably left it on his nightstand when he rushed to get ready. There are tears in his eyes when Sam pulls him into an empty classroom, and Kurt quickly and discreetly wipes them away.

"What do you want Sam?" It comes out harsher than he meant, but he really doesn't need to hear more ridiculous stories from his so called friends.

"Oh, I, I just wanted to ask your advice. I mean, you know how coach Beiste is like a man now, but does that mean she's like gay for dudes too? I'm just kinda confused cause I don't know people who are like you know trans."

Kurt gapes at the blond, because this right here, is taking the prank too far. And he never expected this from Sam, not after coach Beiste gave him a job when Sam returned to Ohio.

"I can't believe you're saying this. Just because a woman is less feminine than you think a woman should be, doesn't mean that she's a man. Didn't you ever listen to her when she said she wanted to be treated like a woman; when she said she identified as a woman. And you don't know anyone who's trans? I know principal Sue made Unique transfer, but did she also transfer the part of your brain that remembers the students you shared the choir room with for a whole year?"

Sam opens his huge mouth, probably to argue, but Kurt has had enough.

"Forget it, I'm out of here. You've all lost your minds!"

He's back in the parking lot when he remembers that he has no car and no phone to call a cab or his dad. For the first time since he was a freshman, Kurt has to wait for the bus and when none shows up, he starts the five miles trek back to his house. His legs are hurting when he finally gets home and he's suddenly so freaking tired, he could sleep a year.

Neither his dad nor Carole are home and when he checks his phone, the battery is dead. He decides to take a nap while his phone charges, and as soon as his head hits the pillows he falls into a deep sleep.

* * *

Kurt startles awake, his pulse razing. When he picks up his phone the lights are blinding for a moment, but once his eyes get accustomed to it, he reads that it's three o'clock … in the morning. Just a bad dream after all, Kurt thinks as a huge weight is lifted from his shoulders. He should have trusted his judgment, because his Blaine would never…

Pulling up Blaine's contact and hoping his fiancé won't be mad if Kurt wakes him, he quickly types out a message.

_You won't believe the dream I just had. Call me when you get this. I really need to hear your voice right now. 3 – Kurt_

The reply comes a few, torturous minutes later.

_You can't text me in the middle of the night anymore. It's inappropriate. You're lucky I'm staying with my parents tonight. I told Dave I deleted your phone number, so unless it's something glee club related, don't text me again._

Kurt reads the message, runs into his en-suit bathroom and dry heaves over the toilette.

He tries to reason with himself that none of this can be real. Brittany and Santana were nowhere near McKinley when they got engaged, Rachel's show wasn't picked up for a second season, but it wasn't cancelled after the pilot and he and Blaine were doing so much better when it was just them in the apartment. Doesn't mean, they never fight, but now, after a year of living together on their own, they're getting married. Or so he thought.

Another horrible thought worms its way into his brain and Kurt gags again. What if his life was like the matrix and the world he thought he lived in was just something he dreamed up. But if this is his reality, then how long had he been asleep? Or better yet – why wasn't his dream world more utopian? He got cheated on, his dad had two health scares and no sane person would continuously dream himself the prop to another person's success story without getting a little something for himself. No, if his reality was a dream – it wasn't a very good one. Then again, everything was better than this world he'd been dropped into.

Kurt straightens himself and rinses his mouth before brushing his teeth. The way he sees it, he has to prove that this world isn't real. With only the moon as his guide, he stumbles back into his room and opens his laptop. First he types in 'That's So Rachel'.

_The Freshman Comedy starring newcomer Rachel Berry got axed after it's pilot episode. Fox immediately halted production of the remaining 8 episodes it had already ordered._

That's plausible, Kurt concedes. He's only seen the first three episodes and had given up afterward, because not even being Rachel's friend could make him willingly submit to that torture week after week.

Next, he types in work – study program NYADA. Kurt laughs out loud when he reads through the results.

_The famous New York based Dramatic Arts Academy prides itself in its work – study program that's open to every student who's made it past year one. The goal is to have students gain experience outside of performing, to make them more well rounded performers, Dean Tibideaux emphasized in an interview. In the same interview, the Dean refused to comment on whether students still had to pay the expensive tuition when they weren't getting an actual education at NYADA._

By the end of the article, Kurt is laughing hysterically. Because there's no way in hell his dad would pay his tuition if Kurt didn't have actual NYADA classes – relevant to his degree mind you – every day. His laughs even harder when he remembers that he's the one making up the crazy stories, if he's indeed stuck in a dream.

Kurt doesn't go back to sleep that night, too desperate to prove that he's dreaming; stuck in a dream within a dream that he can't escape from. In the morning, his eyes are framed by dark circles and his hands are shaking from all the coffee he's had during the night. Rachel, doesn't text him this morning, probably still mad at him for one thing or another – some things stay the same in every universe – and so Kurt takes Carole's car keys and leaves in her car. (He hasn't seen either his dad or Carole yet even though both their cars are in the driveway and if that isn't fishy…)

He drives to Blaine's house almost on autopilot, because if this is the real world, he needs to know what happened. Why is Blaine back in Ohio? What is he doing in Ohio? And why is everyone pretending that his fiancé is dating the one person Blaine would never date in addition to Sebastian because he knows how much it would hurt Kurt, and Blaine's not vindictive. Kurt may date someone just to spite someone else, but not Blaine and definitely not with Karofsky or Sebastian. If his Blaine did something like that, Kurt would have a hard time convincing himself he'd even want him back.

This is probably how he needs to see them – his Blaine and this universe's Blaine, because no way they are the same.

Blaine walks out of his house when Kurt pulls into his driveway and with the way this Blaine looks exactly like his Blaine – Kurt's buying into this whole everyone has an evil twin / doppelganger conspiracy he stumbled onto online last night.

"Blaine," Kurt whispers as he climbs out of the car and runs toward his fiancé.

"Why are you here? God, I've missed you!"

Before he can put his arms around Blaine, a hand on his chest stops him.

"Don't. Don't text me, don't call me and don't just come over. Neither of us will ever really move on if we keep seeing each other."

Kurt's heart is in his throat and his struggles to breathe.

"Why are you in Lima, Blaine?" he forces out, his throat feeling like someone took sandpaper to it.

"You broke up with me and I let my grades slip. NYADA kicked me out, so I came back home."

Kurt stares at Blaine as if his fiancé had just grown a second head.

"According to Rachel it's October, right. When did I break up with you?" Blaine frowns as well.

"After school let out. We suddenly had too much time on our hands and got on our nerves."

Kurt starts laughing hysterically again. "Do you hear yourself, Blaine? Are you meaning to tell me that you flunked out of college over summer break? When you didn't have school and classes where your grades could drop."

"Huh," Blaine says and rubs the back of his head. "I actually don't really remember what happened. But you didn't want me anymore, so I came home. And then he was here and wanted me. You made me feel like I was all alone in the universe, I didn't want to be alone again."

"Oh, Blaine," Kurt whispers. "I think if we ever break up again, the last thing you should do is start dating again immediately. I don't plan to ever break up with you, but just in case, try to be single for once, it probably would do you a world of good."

Blaine glares at him. "You've lost all right to tell me what to do when you dumped me, and you won't ever break up with me again, because I won't ever be with you again. Now get out of my way, I need to get to Dalton to coach the Warblers."

Kurt steps aside to let Blaine through, dumbstruck by the hatred in Blaine's eyes. Still, he has to get the last word in.

"Coaching the Warblers, are you kidding me. The Warblers coach themselves – have done so for nearly 100 years. I would know because Wes kept mentioning it nearly every freaking practice!"

Blaine just shakes his head. "Go home, Kurt. You don't belong here.

Kurt waits until he's out of sight.

"You think I don't know that? All I want is to go home, but if this is real, I want to fall back asleep and never wake up again."

* * *

He ends up at a bar around noon – thankfully he's 21 in this universe as well – and tells the barkeeper to keep 'em coming, not caring particularly what he's drinking to numb his mind. All he cares is that after a few shots of Whisky, he doesn't feel his pain so much anymore and that's he's starting to understand why some people self-medicate with alcohol. The drunker he gets, the less awful his situation seems to him. Even if this is the real world – nothing says he can't just go back to New York and find another "work-study" project. And Blaine, the idea of having to let him go in any universe is breaking his heart in so many tiny pieces that he's certain you can't clue the shards together again.

But this Blaine in this universe, Kurt's not sure he'd want him back. How would he ever forget that the love of his life once dated the guy who albeit only briefly, sexually harassed him when he was still in high school. The bullying he can forgive – he's forgiven Puck, Finn and all the others as well - but the rest … he does wish Karofsky all the best for his future, but he could die quite happy if he never has to see him again.

When Kurt nearly falls off the bar stool an hour later, the bartender calls him a cab and a woman who reminds him of coach Beiste, lends him her hand on his way to the waiting car.

"If you throw up in here, you pay for the cleaning," the cab driver threatens him and Kurt nods weakly before telling him the address.

His house is empty, just like this morning and Kurt falls face first onto the coach and presses his head against the cool pillow. He's out in seconds.

* * *

When Kurt wakes up on the couch, his head is pounding and his mouth is dry. On closer inspection, he's also wearing suit pants and a white undershirt, which makes no sense whatsoever, because he wore something else when he left the house this morning.

His cellphone is on the coffee table in front of him, and Kurt picks it up, wincing when the bright light aggravates his headache. There are a few missed calls from Rachel and one from Santana from what appears to be a few hours ago, but Kurt's memories of his afternoon are already fading. The date on his phone tells him, that it's supposedly the day before his wedding, but he's not trusting anything anymore until he knows that he and Blaine and all their friends are okay.

His hands shake as he types.

_You won't believe the dream I just had._

There's no answer. Kurt's about to give up when his phone finally lights up and Kurt turns it slowly, shared shitless of the answer.

_Why don't you come upstairs and tell me about it. Unless you still think the stairs are evil. Just be glad you're nearly 22. I don't think you're dad would have found your behavior so funny, otherwise._

Kurt promptly bursts into tears, because he isn't crazy. His Blaine still loves him. By the time he gets to his bedroom, tears are streaming down his face, and Blaine pulls him into his arms as soon as he sees Kurt.

"What's wrong, honey? Why are you crying?"

Kurt clings to Blaine with the desperation of a shipwrecked clinging to a board of wood in a stormy sea.

"I thought I lost you," he sobs. "I had the worst dream and then I woke up but I was still in the dream and it got worse. Nearly everyone of our friends was back in Ohio instead of being in school, Santana hated me, Rachel thought I was making fun of her, and you, you…"

"I what?" Blaine rubs his hand soothingly over Kurt's back, but Kurt can't stop crying yet. Those are tears of relief though, because for a moment, he'd really thought he'd never see his Blaine again.

"You dated Karofsky because I broke up with you."

Blaine's eyes widen comically.

"Did you do drugs last night, Kurt? I can't fathom how you'd dream up a story like this otherwise. I would never date someone who hurt you. Maybe if we were, like, broken up for ten years and had no interest in getting back into each other's lives, then maybe, but definitely not Karofsky. I'm not attracted to him."

"I got scared last night, when everyone was giving us advice because we are still so young, and I drank too much, but unless Puck laced something with pot again, this was just my messed up brain coming up with the worst scenario possible."

"Are you still afraid? You know the ceremony tomorrow isn't legally binding, so if you want to wait a bit longer before we make it official, I'd be fine," Blaine suggests, as Kurt wipes his face with his undershirt.

Kurt shakes his head though. "I've seen a dystopian alternative and you know what, I'd rather get married young and have to work hard to make it work, than live in a world where you and I aren't us anymore."

He softly kisses Blaine's lips, before he takes his hand and leads them back to his bed.

"Let's go back to bed. It feels like it's been days since I had a good night's sleep."

* * *

Tl, dr: Season 6 is nothing more than a dream within a dream Kurt has the night before his wedding when he gets cold feet about getting married too young.

Those dreams are the worst in my opinion, especially when you're having a nightmare, are happy that you finally woke up only to realize you're still stuck in your nightmare.

Reading the first glee spoilers was a bit like this, I expected to wake up and find out my brain had come up with the craziest things a show trying to go out with a bang could do only to wake and see the spoilers were still there. I'm looking forward to my first episode this season on Friday and if season 6 as nothing more than Rachel's fever dream the night before her TV pilot airs for the first time would become canon, I wouldn't mind it at all. And I really don't care for Rachel…


End file.
